Several New Zealand sporting celebrities - including a couple of former members of national women's hockey team the Black Sticks - will feature in the line-up taking on the Kerikeri Half Marathon this Saturday.
More than 2000 have already placed entries for the popular Fullers GreatSights Kerikeri Half Marathon, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and the event has again attracted large numbers from outside the Northland region. With entries having officially closed off on Sunday, organisers are now waiting to see if a couple of long-standing record times will be broken.
Aucklander Seaton Meredith has held the men's half marathon record since 1999, 1:05:14s; while (2013 Northland Sportswoman of the Year) Mary Davies has held the women's record since 2003 with 1:15:19s.
The overall winners of the 2014 Sport Northland Run/ Walk Series will be decided following the half. Frontrunners this year include the 2013 winner, Sasha Daniels of Auckland, returning to defend his title and likely to be challenged by Whangarei's Harry Linford in the men's division; while fellow Aucklanders Katrin Gottschalk and Sarah Raine are expected to make a strong challenge against local runner Maria Akesson who leads the women's division.
Akesson is currently one point ahead of Carolyn Younger (Whangarei) on the leaderboard going into the final event; while Whangarei's Ian Calder has already racked up enough points to take out the 2014 men's title from Louis Young (Wellsford).
